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Antigua
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English Harbour -
not one bay but several - provides great shelter. In the background,
separated by a narrow strip of land, lies the equally secure and
even larger Falmouth Harbour |
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Some of the fine
old buildings at Nelson's Dockyard, English Harbour, which has now
been extensively restored |
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Zingano, lying in
the outer harbour, viewed from the old redoubt |
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St. Kitts and Nevis
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Peter and
Katherine, who joined us for our time in Antigua, St. Kitts and
Nevis, enjoy the sun on the foredeck. We had hoped to take them to
Statia and Saba but strong winds kept us in St. Kitts longer than we
planned. |
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We enjoyed some
fine hikes in St. Kitts, through sometimes difficult trails in the
rainforest. |
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The huge buttress
roots of a mahogany tree |
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There is a fine
botanical garden on Nevis, where we saw this bizarre African Sausage
Tree amongst many other exotic specimens. |
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A view of
Brimstone Hill where the British built an impregnable fort to
command the bays below. |
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Here's the view
from the fort itself. |
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Many ruined sugar
mills dot the landscape of St. Kitts and look as though the people just
walked away. Inside this one the machinery and boilers are all still
lying there, untouched for at least 50 years. |
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Most of the
remaining old plantation houses have been turned into hotels or are
finding new lives in one form or another. This tree in the grounds
of one old house is claimed to cover an acre of ground - after much
debate and pacing we decided that it was close! |
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Sugar is still
grown on St. Kitts, largely because in the early part of the 20th
century the plantationers had the foresight to build a circular
railway to collect the sugar from each plantation and take
it to central processing plants, thus greatly improving the
economics. This track is now used for sightseeing trains but is
still also used for hauling cane. Here we watched as bundles of
cane were loaded into cane train cars. |
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Basseterre, St.
Kitts main town, has some fine old buildings. It has escaped the
onslaught of cruise ships and so still retains much of its charm. |
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Statia (St Eustatius)
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The guns of
Statia's fort look out on Zingano. At its peak Statia's shore
was thronged with boats taking advantage of its freeport status but
the
island never really recovered from a hurricane which wiped out the
port. |
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Fort Orange is now
perfectly preserved and a peaceful place to stroll around. |
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There are always
two sides to a story. Here the Dutch proclaim their part in helping
America achieve independence. Another story is that the fort's
commander mistakenly gave a salute to a 'rebel' warship, not
realising its status. The British were unforgiving and blasted the
place in retaliation. |
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We had our best
meal in the Caribbean (so far) here at the Old Gin House. Amazingly
good and sophisticated cooking, quite unexpected in this beautifully
restored but quiet hotel by the sea. |
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A typical Statian
house. Those London cabs get everywhere don't they? Statia, please
cabbie! |
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This is The Quill,
Statia's extinct volcano and some 2,000 feet high. Well-marked
trails lead you to the crater's 1,000 diameter rim whence you can descend 500
feet through rainforest to the floor or, as I did, traverse the rim
to reach Mazinga, the highest point with great views. |
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Soldier crabs (a
type of hermit crab) are everywhere on the trail, from the foot to
the ridge. When you approach they hide in their shells for safety
but this often sends them bouncing down the steep hillside until
they are stopped by rock or tree. |
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Red bellied racers
are unique to Statia and neighbouring Saba. I was lucky to see
several on the way to Mazinga (a rarely used trail). |
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The racers are shy
and slither away as soon as they hear you but if they are sleeping
in the sun you can steal up on them if you are quiet. |
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A wasp's nest on
the Quill ridge. Pretty but poor Leonie got stung by three wasps
with no apparent provocation, whereas they did not seem to mind my
poking my lens in close. |
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These little
lizards turn up everywhere. They are often hard to spot as they
change colour to merge with the background |
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The view from
Mazinga |
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Saba
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The approach to
Saba (pronounced 'sabre') immediately signals that this island
is unlike any other in the Caribbean - rocky, harsh and forbidding. |
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Look carefully and
you can see the village of 'Windwardside' clinging on to the ridge. |
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Ladder Bay, until
the 1950s, was the best anchorage in Saba. Goods had to be unloaded
by hand and passed ashore by men standing waist deep, then taken up
the hundreds of steps (hence 'Ladder Bay') to the customs house at
the top. |
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Mountain-top
houses in Saba. Before the days of concrete pilings these houses
were anchored to the mountainside by chains to prevent them blowing
away in gales. |
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Bottom, the main
village, nestles in the shelter of the old crater bottom - hence the
name. The intrepid Dutch, Scotch and former slave families have
created (with help from Holland) a remarkably comfortable little
enclave. |
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A somewhat exposed
place to build a school in hurricane country, but there are not too
many choices on Saba where flat ground is rare. This site got badly
damaged by hurricane Lenny but has been repaired. |
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A typical
traditional Saban house. |
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The little church... |
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...and the even
'littler' Rectory. |
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We were the only
boat visiting Saba, but as we left we passed this fine brig on its
way over. |
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Saint Martin/Sint Maarten
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A view from the
fort overlooking the French town of Marigot. To the left you can see
Simpson Bay lagoon, the huge inland anchorage. Beyond the charmingly
named 'Witches Tit' hill is the Dutch side. |
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Anguilla
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Anguilla's fine
Road Bay anchorage |
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The beautiful
Shoal Bay beach, said to be in the world's top ten. |
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Anguillan's are
keen sailors and have fierce competition racing these locally built
schooners. They have no ballast (just lots of people) and are
manhandled in and out of the water. |
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Sunset over Road
Bay as a 'sail assisted' cruise ship departs |
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A pretty Anguillan
cottage. The 'roses round the door' are bougainvillea around the
veranda. Nowadays the cedar shingle roofs tend to be made of poured
concrete, less attractive but they stay put in a hurricane. The chainlink fence is to keep out the ubiquitous goats. |
